Taiwan and the Philippines may belong in different regions of Asia (as Taiwan is considered to be a part of the East Asian region, while the Philippines belongs to the Southeast Asian region), but they are actually not far from each other at all. Taiwan and the Philippines are right on top of each other, and a plane ride from one country to another only has a two-hour duration.
Perhaps this proximity is the reason why the culture in Taiwan hasn't really shocked me greatly. Of course, three weeks in Taiwan isn't enough to fully know the country's cultural nuances, but during these three weeks, I have observed that there really is a great number of similarities between Taiwan and the Philippines. Both countries develop strong familial ties, encourage respect for elders, share an affinity for rice, practice great religiosity, and many more. Despite all these similarities, the aspect of religiosity is one that I find to be incredibly fascinating. While religion does permeate greatly in both countries, it is also one of the biggest differences that they have.
Polytheistic and Monotheistic religions
The religion in Taiwan is composed of a mix of different religious beliefs and practices, specifically Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. The religious tradition that is currently practiced across the country is an amalgamation of each, plus some other Chinese religions. It is difficult to really distinguish the amount of influence each one has, as each religion is no longer in it's "purest" form; different elements from each are taken and practiced together with the rest. This is especially evident since different Buddhist and Taoist temples can be found everywhere for worshipping various gods; such as Longshan temples (which has Buddhist origins) and Matsu temples (with Taoist origins).
Meanwhile, the two main religions practiced in the Philippines are Christianity and Islam. Both are monotheistic, as both believe that there is only one god, God for Christians and Allah for Muslims. Given that most Filipinos subscribe to a monotheistic religion (Christianity or Islam), while most Taiwanese practice a polytheistic religion, I have noticed vast cultural differences.
Different ways of worship
The main one is really the ways of worship and prayer. As a Roman Catholic, I have previously only experienced going to churches. In a Roman Catholic church, the typical way of worship is going to mass, which is an hour-long ceremony of prayer, songs, and scripture. Outside of going to mass, people pray in a church through kneeling on a pew or sitting on the benches, doing the sign of the cross, and saying their prayer, whether it is personalized or recited as ritual (like the rosary or other litanies).
Here in Taiwan is the first time that I've ever visited a temple. In Lukang especially, there are over 200 temples and I've been to enough of them to have observed a thing or two about the ways of worship. The specific ways of worship might slightly differ from temple to temple, but generally, I've observed that prayer in these temples have a certain pattern. People flock to the temple which houses the gods that they wish to pray to. One temple can house multiple gods, while some temples house only one. Temples usually have three main doors. You must enter through the right-hand door and exit through the left-hand door. The middle door is usually reserved for the gods to pass through.
To pray, you must take three incense sticks, light them, and approach the god which you wish to pray to. You pray through putting your hands together in prayer while bowing your head and hands up and down three times, as you introduce yourself and state your prayer to the god in your mind. Once done, you leave the three incense sticks at the incense burner of the god you prayed to. Almost every god will have their own incense burner, and you must always leave three for every god that you pray to. You may pray to the gods without the use of incense sticks, but the sticks serve as a direct line of communication with the gods, and your prayer will be more effective with it. You can also bring offerings to be blessed by the gods, which you can take home with you after.
Just like how there are numerous religious traditions in Catholicism such as the changing seasons of the liturgical calendar, the seven sacraments, the praying of the rosary, the celebration of festivals for saints, and many more, there are also many more Taiwanese religious traditions that I won't be able to cover in just one article. Some of these traditions are rituals for more direct communication with the gods to ask for advice or help with their future, temple hymns and practices, celebration of different festivals, rituals based on the lunar calendar, and many more.
Religious Cultural Customs
The most fascinating thing to me is noticing that some Philippine cultural customs that I took for granted (since they are directly intertwined with Christianity and widely celebrated throughout the country), are not given the same importance here. One example is Christmas. After asking around, I found out that most Taiwanese people don't give as much importance to Christmas as Filipinos do. In fact, Christmas Day is not a national holiday in Taiwan. Instead of Christmas, they have Constitution Day as the national holiday on December 25. Some people still put up Christmas decorations, and some have Christmas parties where they exchange gifts through games like Secret Santa for the Christmas spirit, but the religious value of Christmas itself isn't really present for many Taiwanese. Of course, it follows that the Christian Christmas traditions that are practiced in many areas in the Philippines aren't practiced in Taiwan as well. Other religious customs that are pervasive in Philippine culture, such as religious non-working holidays like All Saint's Day and the practice of church weddings, aren't present in Taiwan as well.
Patron gods and saints
Despite all the differences, I was surprised to find that there are still similarities between a mostly monotheistic country and a mostly polytheistic country. Devotion to religious figures is really prominent in both. For Roman Catholics in the Philippines, we have religious figures like God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Mama Mary, and all the different patron saints that we pray to for help with our needs. I found that prayer to many different gods in Taiwan is a little bit similar to Catholic Filipinos' devotion to patron saints. Each god or saint is a patron for a specific thing, and people will ask them for help for their specific need. For example, the Taiwanese goddess Mazu is considered to be the deity which protects sailors and everyone who travels through the sea. In Catholicism, Saint Nicholas is also known as the patron saint of sailors, among other things. Of course, gods and saints aren't the same, but it is quite interesting to note similar behavior over such vastly different religions.
A City of Spirituality
A big reason of why I am able to really observe these things is because Lukang is a very spiritual site. As I mentioned, there are hundreds of big and small temples in this town, and evidence of religious tradition can be found everywhere; in the temples, houses, streets, walls, and corners. It also has some of the oldest and biggest temples in Taiwan; the Lukang Longshan and Matsu temples are both national historic landmarks, and are famous throughout the country. I might not have been able to observe Taiwanese religiosity this much if I was staying in one of the bigger cities of Taiwan. As a very historical and spiritual town, Lukang is a good town to visit to further observe religious customs for anyone interested in learning more.
The way of life that I had back in the Philippines as a Roman Catholic is something that I definitely took for granted. Cultural customs that are directly intertwined with religion are so deeply ingrained in our country that I never even wondered how these are practiced in a country with a vastly different religion. Seeing an unfamiliar religious system and how it affects a country is very eye-opening and a good learning experience for me. Of course, everything I've written are just my observations, and my experience is very limited. I can't claim to represent all Filipinos with my experiences, and I can't claim to say that all my observations of Taiwanese religion are accurate. However, I hope that these observations can help others empathize with Taiwanese people, and see that even if things are unfamiliar, people, customs and traditions from other countries aren't really so strange or different after all.
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